An endocutter is a surgical tool that staples and cuts tissue to transect that tissue while leaving the cut ends hemostatic. An endocutter is small enough in diameter for use in minimally invasive surgery, where access to a surgical site is obtained through a trocar, port, or small incision in the body. A linear cutter is a larger version of an endocutter, and is used to transect portions of the gastrointestinal tract. A typical endocutter receives at its distal end a disposable single-use cartridge with several rows of staples, and includes an anvil opposed to the cartridge. The staples may be held in individual pockets, with staple drivers underneath each staple. As a wedge advances into the cartridge, that wedge sequentially pushes a number of staple drivers upward, and the staple drivers in turn both linearly push each corresponding staple upward out of its pocket, deforming it against an anvil. The manufacturing process required to place those small individual staples and staple drivers in the corresponding small pockets is difficult, and the number of parts involved complicates the system and requires a minimum size of cartridge that may be larger than optimally desired.
The use of the same reference symbols in different figures indicates similar or identical items.